diff --git a/lib/functions.zsh b/lib/functions.zsh
index 330b0e3e9..937d725dc 100644
--- a/lib/functions.zsh
+++ b/lib/functions.zsh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ function zsh_stats() {
 }
 
 function uninstall_oh_my_zsh() {
-  command env ZSH="$ZSH" sh "$ZSH/tools/uninstall.sh"
+  command env ZSH="$ZSH" ZDOTDIR="${ZDOTDIR:-}" sh "$ZSH/tools/uninstall.sh"
 }
 
 function upgrade_oh_my_zsh() {
diff --git a/tools/uninstall.sh b/tools/uninstall.sh
index 6e3df7aca..038c40cb2 100644
--- a/tools/uninstall.sh
+++ b/tools/uninstall.sh
@@ -1,37 +1,80 @@
-if hash chsh >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ -f ~/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh ]; then
-  old_shell=$(cat ~/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh)
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Make sure important variables exist if not already defined
+#
+# $USER is defined by login(1) which is not always executed (e.g. containers)
+# POSIX: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695299/utilities/id.html
+USER=${USER:-$(id -u -n)}
+# $HOME is defined at the time of login, but it could be unset. If it is unset,
+# a tilde by itself (~) will not be expanded to the current user's home directory.
+# POSIX: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009696899/basedefs/xbd_chap08.html#tag_08_03
+HOME="${HOME:-$(getent passwd "$USER" 2>/dev/null | cut -d: -f6)}"
+# macOS does not have getent; use dscl to query the directory service
+HOME="${HOME:-$(dscl . -read "/Users/$USER" NFSHomeDirectory 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $2}')}"
+# Last resort: tilde expansion via eval (POSIX, but carries injection risk)
+HOME="${HOME:-$(eval "echo ~$USER" 2>/dev/null)}"
+
+if [ -z "$HOME" ]; then
+  echo >&2 "Error: could not determine HOME directory"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+zdot="${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}"
+
+# Default OMZ directory (matches tools/install.sh logic)
+if [ -n "$ZDOTDIR" ] && [ "$ZDOTDIR" != "$HOME" ]; then
+  OMZ_DIR="${ZSH:-$ZDOTDIR/ohmyzsh}"
+else
+  OMZ_DIR="${ZSH:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh}"
+fi
+
+# Safety: normalize and refuse to remove dangerous or non-OMZ paths
+# Strip all trailing slashes (e.g., "/home/user/" → "/home/user")
+OMZ_DIR=${OMZ_DIR%"${OMZ_DIR##*[!/]}"}
+case "${OMZ_DIR:-/}" in
+  /|.|..|"$HOME"|"$zdot") echo >&2 "Error: refusing to remove '$OMZ_DIR' (unsafe path)"; exit 1 ;;
+esac
+
+if [ -d "$OMZ_DIR" ] && [ ! -f "$OMZ_DIR/oh-my-zsh.sh" ]; then
+  echo >&2 "Error: '$OMZ_DIR' does not appear to be an Oh My Zsh installation"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if hash chsh >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ -f "$zdot/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh" ]; then
+  old_shell=$(cat "$zdot/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh")
   echo "Switching your shell back to '$old_shell':"
   if chsh -s "$old_shell"; then
-    rm -f ~/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh
+    rm -f "$zdot/.shell.pre-oh-my-zsh"
   else
     echo "Could not change default shell. Change it manually by running chsh"
     echo "or editing the /etc/passwd file."
-    exit
+    exit 1
   fi
 fi
 
-read -r -p "Are you sure you want to remove Oh My Zsh? [y/N] " confirmation
+printf "Are you sure you want to remove Oh My Zsh? [y/N] "
+read -r confirmation
 if [ "$confirmation" != y ] && [ "$confirmation" != Y ]; then
   echo "Uninstall cancelled"
   exit
 fi
 
-echo "Removing ~/.oh-my-zsh"
-if [ -d ~/.oh-my-zsh ]; then
-  rm -rf ~/.oh-my-zsh
+echo "Removing $OMZ_DIR"
+if [ -d "$OMZ_DIR" ]; then
+  rm -rf "$OMZ_DIR"
 fi
 
-if [ -e ~/.zshrc ]; then
-  ZSHRC_SAVE=~/.zshrc.omz-uninstalled-$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S)
-  echo "Found ~/.zshrc -- Renaming to ${ZSHRC_SAVE}"
-  mv ~/.zshrc "${ZSHRC_SAVE}"
+if [ -e "$zdot/.zshrc" ]; then
+  ZSHRC_SAVE="$zdot/.zshrc.omz-uninstalled-$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S)"
+  echo "Found $zdot/.zshrc -- Renaming to ${ZSHRC_SAVE}"
+  mv "$zdot/.zshrc" "${ZSHRC_SAVE}"
 fi
 
 echo "Looking for original zsh config..."
-ZSHRC_ORIG=~/.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh
+ZSHRC_ORIG="$zdot/.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh"
 if [ -e "$ZSHRC_ORIG" ]; then
-  echo "Found $ZSHRC_ORIG -- Restoring to ~/.zshrc"
-  mv "$ZSHRC_ORIG" ~/.zshrc
+  echo "Found $ZSHRC_ORIG -- Restoring to $zdot/.zshrc"
+  mv "$ZSHRC_ORIG" "$zdot/.zshrc"
   echo "Your original zsh config was restored."
 else
   echo "No original zsh config found"